There was something trickling up my face. Something wet. It took me some time to realise it had to be my blood. It didn’t make sense to me though. It didn’t hurt. It should hurt. If I’m bleeding, then it should hurt. I was content with remaining in the numbing darkness when an irritating noise began to sound. The noise grew louder and more panicked as time went on. Once the noise grew too maddening to ignore, I was finally able to open my eyes.

It would have been complete darkness if it weren’t for Granny Liadan’s torch, which was still strung to my backpack. Dad’s training had been a smart choice once again. The torch only illuminated the dirt floor and puddle of blood below me. After a moment, I realised I had been strung upside down just like the flashlight. Unlike the other victims of the wendigo, my waist and left leg were constrained by a metal chain that had been used for lifting goods when the mineshaft was in operation. How long had I been hanging like this? The vexing sounds continued. “Cormac?” I asked in a weak voice. He wasn’t in sight, and now there was only silence.

“Cormac?” I asked again, as my voice reverberated through the mineshaft. My voice alarmed me more than the blood dripping up my face. It wasn’t too long ago that I heard my voice be this hoarse. At the time, I had been crying for hours after learning the truth through a text message. “Cormac?” I tried to shout, but my voice was even weaker than before.

Out of the darkness, Cormac jumped into the spotlight below me. Free and mostly unharmed, he began ranting in gibberish as he pointed at the bruise on his face from where my can had hit. Now we matched, almost like twins. “I got snatched by the wendigo, and you're complaining about being hit by a can?” A weak laugh escaped my lips. “You hit me with one first.”

Cormac was clearly annoyed by my lack of concern for the bruise on his face. In a huff, he stormed back into the darkness. “Cormac?” I called out, but there was nothing. Not even gibberish. “Cormac?” I tried a little louder.

The drips of my own blood were the only thing I could hear. Did he… abandon me? The thought caused my chest to grow heavy, and soon I was choking back sobs that were threatening to spill out. There was no one to see, but I still couldn’t let it out. Letting it out would be acknowledging how much it hurt.

First, Mum. Then, Dad. Now, the goblin. Everyone left me. They abandoned me one after another. Mum was going to ditch me with Dad. Dad did ditch me with Granny Liadan and a goblin. The goblin ditched me to get slowly eaten by the wendigo. The only thing that brought me comfort was the other victims we saw earlier. They were going to keep the wendigo full for a while. But would anyone notice if I went missing for days? Months? Years? Before it was a no-brainer, but now it was hard for me to say.

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What did I do to deserve this? Maybe with the goblin, I had it coming. But my Mum and Dad? It didn’t make sense to me. Was it because of who I am? Because I’m clearly related to Dad’s side of the family? Why did Mum pick Cara to go with her and leave me with Dad? Why did my sister have to be the one to tell me? Why were my parents lying to me? Why did everyone leave me? Why was everything falling apart?

Why?

What was wrong with me?

Tears escaped my eyes before a scream broke through my mouth. Suddenly dropping a few metres was terrifying, but luckily I stopped a metre above the ground before hitting the floor hard. It took me a couple of seconds to realise what had happened before I heard the comforting sounds of a grumbling goblin. “Cormac!” I called out with glee. Grabbing the torch, it didn’t take me long to find the goblin was slowly climbing down the ladder to an upper platform where the chain had been suspended from. “You… rescued me?” I asked in disbelief.

Cormac picked up the last can of peaches, which must’ve fallen out when I was being strung up. He pointed at the cut on my chin with a series of grunts. I reached up, and my hand returned red. “It’s alright,” I muttered. “I heal pretty quickly, so it’ll be okay.”

My answer seemed to satisfy Cormac, who sat in front of me and began chewing on the can of peaches. “How long have I been suspended?” Cormac glared at me. “Right… you wouldn’t know. What about Granny? Have you found her?” He shook his head before pointing at the remains of another chain on the floor. “You think Granny did that? She is old, you know.”

I heard the can finally being punctured and broken open by Cormac’s jaws. His teeth may have been dismal, but his jaw was strong. It took me by surprise when Cormac calmly placed the open can of peaches in front of me. “This… is for me?” I gave a weak smile. “You’re not going to throw it at me again?”

Cormac seemed triggered as he began pointing at his wound again. But no matter how angry he was, he didn’t touch the can of peaches in front of me. It was a peace offering, and it was beautiful. Like a dam had been burst, tears wouldn’t stop rolling down my cheeks. “Sorry,” I muttered as I tried to hold back the sobs, but I couldn’t. I had finally reached my limit.

Cormac was at a loss about what to do as he began searching the room and then my backpack. Maybe he was looking for another can of peaches? I tried to tell him that the one in front of me was the last one, but I couldn’t choke out the words. Eventually, Cormac began to pat my head in the same way Granny Liadan would pat his head. It made me laugh. Cormac, the goblin, was patting my head. My cheek was bruised, there was a cut on my chin, and we were in a mineshaft where a wendigo might eat our granny; but nothing hurt and everything was beautiful.

“Rowan! Cormac! What are you two dearies doing down here?”